A battle of climate placards in German railway stations

In Germany electricity corporations are funding an advertising campaign in central railway stations opposing 12-year-old pro-renewables legislation as electioneering moves into gear. “End the Renewable Energy Act or the energy turnaround will fail,” their placards say. Anti-nuclear groups are collecting donations to run a counter campaign in the railway stations in which their placards will say "End nuclear horror! Only nuclear corporations whine about the Renewable Energy Act” and “End coal horror! Only climate vandals whine about the Renewable Energy Act”.

The Act (in German: Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG) came into force in 2000 and was the initial spark of a tremendous boost of renewable energies in Germany.

It has raised the renewables share of the energy supply from six to 25 percent and is slowly pushing nuclear and coal power out of the grid.

The lobby organisation placing the corporate ads, hiding behind the innocuous name “Initiative New Social Market Economics”, is not alone.

In the junior government party, Free Democrats, in Chancellor Merkel’s Conservatives and even in the opposition Social Democrats there are strong interests trying to stop the energy turnaround for the nuclear and coal power producers.

The parties are working on their election campaign strategies, are developing election programmes and with that important guidelines for the next government.

This is why it is now important to expose the duplicity of the opponents of the energy turnaround and to stir for reform of the Act that does not stop the expansion of renewables, but coordinates it better, the nuclear opponents say.

Their advertising will start in Berlin. It costs around 35 euros a day to have a placard at a central railway station.